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Post by Hurbster on Aug 15, 2014 9:22:52 GMT -5
Don't forget Southampton. I wouldn't be shocked if they went down this year, not just from losing, well, almost everyone, but the mood that creates amongst everyone else. There's already 1 more guy is trying to force his way out, it can't do much for confidence or team spirit when everyone's running for the exit at the first opportunity. Oh yeah!! hahaha how did i forget them! I think Burnley and Leicester are going to really struggle and we will depending on who the get in see Palace down there too, i think Ronald could do a good job at the Saints, they have the best youth set up in the country lets not forget. i'm sure they have some great youth/reserve players somewhere no one knows about yet. Saints have actually spent about 50-odd million on new transfers, including arguably the best striker in the Eredivise.
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Post by Unaffiliated on Aug 15, 2014 9:39:50 GMT -5
American sports leagues should have relegation It's time that Americans felt the same crushing stress and agony that the rest of the sporting world endures. I've always found it odd that American sports don't have this method, which generally promotes a meritocracy, I thought that was a big thing there, you know, work hard and you can achieve anything. Instead, this whole franchise thing, you could be a minor league team, and win that division every year indefinitely, but never get a shot at the major league, because you're in a bad area or don't have a big money backer, just feels wrong to me. For that reason, I do prefer the European football/soccer system to the one for American sports. However, with the way football/soccer has gone over the last decade or so, it's becoming quite similar to this minor league/major league thing. The big money coming in has created a great disparity between a select few 'elite' teams and everyone else. It has come to the point where teams in the 'everyone else' category will never again challenge for serious honours without serious cash injections like at Manchester City. It's like a minor league where mid-table Premier League finishes and having a shot at one of the cups every once in a while is the greatest success a club can hope for. For American pro sports (except MLS) they have a draft system that at least tries to give every team a chance, but this can't be done together with promotion/relegation which I feel is necessary. There is sort of a trade-off there.
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Futureraven: Beelzebruv
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Post by Futureraven: Beelzebruv on Aug 15, 2014 10:22:05 GMT -5
Complete lack of knowledge here, but are drafts just for new young players or older ones?
Because even with drafts, it seems there are teams that will get a lot of the best players and offer huge wages to get them, so someone who gets drafted to a worse team will end up traded to say, the Yankees at some stage if they want him.
Much like for example, Southampton last year did far FAR above expectations with young players they trained or bought cheap, then the big teams have just come in and gutted the squad taking almost everyone of value.
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Post by Unaffiliated on Aug 15, 2014 10:46:27 GMT -5
Complete lack of knowledge here, but are drafts just for new young players or older ones? Because even with drafts, it seems there are teams that will get a lot of the best players and offer huge wages to get them, so someone who gets drafted to a worse team will end up traded to say, the Yankees at some stage if they want him. Much like for example, Southampton last year did far FAR above expectations with young players they trained or bought cheap, then the big teams have just come in and gutted the squad taking almost everyone of value. From my probably imperfect understanding, there is a crop of new players every year and they get drafted into the pro league, with the worst-performing teams from the previous year getting the first picks. There are the big money teams that will snap up the superstars eventually, but usually not immediately. Admittedly, I don't follow American sports much, but a quick Wikipedia check shows that the MLB and NFL definitely have a greater variety of champions as the European football leagues (not so much the NBA). Of course, both developmental systems are so different that the Americans can't just suddenly adopt promotion/relegation and the Europeans can't just suddenly doing a draft. It's definitely more gut-wrenching for Southampton to lose their squad like that since they had to work much harder to build it.
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Post by 'Foretold' Joker on Aug 15, 2014 12:45:07 GMT -5
Complete lack of knowledge here, but are drafts just for new young players or older ones? Because even with drafts, it seems there are teams that will get a lot of the best players and offer huge wages to get them, so someone who gets drafted to a worse team will end up traded to say, the Yankees at some stage if they want him. Much like for example, Southampton last year did far FAR above expectations with young players they trained or bought cheap, then the big teams have just come in and gutted the squad taking almost everyone of value. From my probably imperfect understanding, there is a crop of new players every year and they get drafted into the pro league, with the worst-performing teams from the previous year getting the first picks. There are the big money teams that will snap up the superstars eventually, but usually not immediately. Admittedly, I don't follow American sports much, but a quick Wikipedia check shows that the MLB and NFL definitely have a greater variety of champions as the European football leagues (not so much the NBA). Of course, both developmental systems are so different that the Americans can't just suddenly adopt promotion/relegation and the Europeans can't just suddenly doing a draft. It's definitely more gut-wrenching for Southampton to lose their squad like that since they had to work much harder to build it. Players were under contract they could have just said no, that is something football teams who have the players always seem reluctant to do.
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Post by Secret Clown on Aug 15, 2014 12:45:48 GMT -5
its been the off season of the chairmen really, Leeds making players bring there own sandwiches and wash there own kits The bring of the packed lunch was a cost saving exercise, as it seemed pointless to open the full training facilities (and pay staff) for 2 days work before a pre season trip to Italy. No idea if the washing of kit actually happened or not.
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Post by government mule on Aug 15, 2014 15:18:09 GMT -5
As a Brightonian, I find the Palace situation hilarious!
As like everyone else in the world, I think Southampton will struggle since theyve sold half their squad, but I don't think they'll go down. I reckon Palace (not before Pulis went though), West Brom and, as an outsider bet, Swansea.
Arsenal will challenge for the title this year. Not sure if we're consistent enough but if we can stay injury free, we will be right up there. Pochettino will gone from Spurs by Christmas.
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4real
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Post by 4real on Aug 15, 2014 18:59:13 GMT -5
Tough to call who's going down but I'm going for Leicester, Burnley & Aston Villa, Leicester and Burnley don't look strong to me and Villa have to go down eventually so why not this year? As for the title it's hard to pick between Man City & Chelsea, I'd love Arsenal to do it and hopefully we will have gained confidence from our trophy wins recently!
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salz4life
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Post by salz4life on Aug 15, 2014 19:24:28 GMT -5
I think promotion/relegation will come to MLS eventually.
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Post by Gravedigger's Biscuits on Aug 15, 2014 19:44:49 GMT -5
Chelsea to win the title. Burnley, Hull and West Brom to get relegated.
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Post by simplydurhamcalling on Aug 15, 2014 20:04:06 GMT -5
Chelsea to win the league.
West Brom, Leicester and Burnley to go down. I hope I'm wrong about the latter 2 though.
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triplethreatmark
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Post by triplethreatmark on Aug 16, 2014 0:06:09 GMT -5
Hey there, Football thread. I was just wondering if someone can do me a favor here. I'm a Newcastle United fan living in the States. I followed them pretty closely two years ago, but life got in the way last season and I only saw two games. Anyways, would any of the Newcastle fans out there help this poor ol' Yank get a crash course on my Magpies for this coming season. Thanks in advance and I really appreciate it.
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Post by Mighty Attack Tribble on Aug 16, 2014 0:18:38 GMT -5
My predictions:
1. Manchester City. Can't look past them. They've got the strongest first 11 in the league, and the rest of the squad is packed with quality.
2. Chelsea. If Costa can do the business up front, they'll push City close. They've got two of the best keepers in the league, and a midfield to rival any in the world, plus Jose and his mind games.
3. Manchester United. Van Gaal will get the best out of a squad that underperformed for Moyes. They need another couple of defenders, and at least one more midfielder if they want to challenge the top two, but they'll be a force again.
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Post by simplydurhamcalling on Aug 16, 2014 6:03:37 GMT -5
Hey there, Football thread. I was just wondering if someone can do me a favor here. I'm a Newcastle United fan living in the States. I followed them pretty closely two years ago, but life got in the way last season and I only saw two games. Anyways, would any of the Newcastle fans out there help this poor ol' Yank get a crash course on my Magpies for this coming season. Thanks in advance and I really appreciate it. Well of course I will.... Last season arguably our two best players were Yohan Cabaye (midfielder) and Mathieu Debuchy (right back), we sold Cabaye in January and Debuchy in June/July for a combined £32m. We also had Loic Remy on loan from Queens Park Rangers who scored most of our goals and he has now returned to QPR. Premier League legend Shola Ameobi has also left the club. After Cabaye left we were really poor, I think we only won 2 or 3 more games all season and we got hammered a few times along the way. This summer we have made more signings than any other team, these are listed below... Daryl Janmaat (right back) Jack Colback (holding midfielder) Siem De Jong (attacking midfielder) Remy Cabella (attacking midfielder) Ayoze Perez (striker) Emanuelle Riviere (striker) Facundo Ferreyra (striker - on loan) These came in at a combined total of, you guessed it, £32m. However, we have also bought... Karl Darlow (goalkeeper) Jamaal Lascelles (central defender) ....from Nottingham Forest but they will remain there on loan for this season. Personally I'm cautiously optimistic for the season ahead, we've signed a lot of good players but most of them are untested in the Premier League, Remy Cabella looks to be a particularly exciting signing. Alan Pardew is still in charge and remains a divisive figure in the eyes of the supporters. There has been talk of challenging for a Champions League place but I can't see it, Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City and Liverpool will all be too good. I do believe we are capable of pushing into the top 7, though Tottenham and Everton will be right up there as well.
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Post by Gravedigger's Biscuits on Aug 16, 2014 6:13:26 GMT -5
Newcastle should be able to put pressure on Everton and Spurs in 6th and 7th.
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Post by Gravedigger's Biscuits on Aug 16, 2014 7:50:13 GMT -5
....Van Gaal gave up on the 3-4-3 quickly, eh?
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triplethreatmark
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Post by triplethreatmark on Aug 16, 2014 11:38:06 GMT -5
Hey there, Football thread. I was just wondering if someone can do me a favor here. I'm a Newcastle United fan living in the States. I followed them pretty closely two years ago, but life got in the way last season and I only saw two games. Anyways, would any of the Newcastle fans out there help this poor ol' Yank get a crash course on my Magpies for this coming season. Thanks in advance and I really appreciate it. Well of course I will.... Last season arguably our two best players were Yohan Cabaye (midfielder) and Mathieu Debuchy (right back), we sold Cabaye in January and Debuchy in June/July for a combined £32m. We also had Loic Remy on loan from Queens Park Rangers who scored most of our goals and he has now returned to QPR. Premier League legend Shola Ameobi has also left the club. After Cabaye left we were really poor, I think we only won 2 or 3 more games all season and we got hammered a few times along the way. This summer we have made more signings than any other team, these are listed below... Daryl Janmaat (right back) Jack Colback (holding midfielder) Siem De Jong (attacking midfielder) Remy Cabella (attacking midfielder) Ayoze Perez (striker) Emanuelle Riviere (striker) Facundo Ferreyra (striker - on loan) These came in at a combined total of, you guessed it, £32m. However, we have also bought... Karl Darlow (goalkeeper) Jamaal Lascelles (central defender) ....from Nottingham Forest but they will remain there on loan for this season. Personally I'm cautiously optimistic for the season ahead, we've signed a lot of good players but most of them are untested in the Premier League, Remy Cabella looks to be a particularly exciting signing. Alan Pardew is still in charge and remains a divisive figure in the eyes of the supporters. There has been talk of challenging for a Champions League place but I can't see it, Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City and Liverpool will all be too good. I do believe we are capable of pushing into the top 7, though Tottenham and Everton will be right up there as well. Very interesting. Again, thanks for the update.
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Post by Mr PONYMANIA Mr Jenzie on Aug 16, 2014 12:43:59 GMT -5
lolchester united celtic whooping dundee united 6-1 psv beating nac 4-1 atm arsenal getting held 1-1 against crystal palace yeah i'm enjoying the skysports free day
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salz4life
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Post by salz4life on Aug 16, 2014 12:46:51 GMT -5
Everton looked lackluster in drawing with Leicester.
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Post by Unaffiliated on Aug 16, 2014 13:48:04 GMT -5
Good start to the season for Arsenal
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